Field of the Invention
The invention described herein generally relates to determining motion and structure from optical flow, in particular, computing structure-from-motion.
Description of the Related Art
The simultaneous recovery of three-dimensional (3D) shape and motion from image sequences is one of the more difficult problems in computer vision. Classical approaches to the problem rely on using algebraic techniques to solve for these unknowns given two or more images. Image movement for humans provides one of the most useful cues for depth. For example, the shadow of a contorted wire appears flat when the wire is stationary, but rotating the wire causes motion in the shadow, which then appears three-dimensional. The computational mechanism of this effect, known as “structure-from-motion,” is determined according to embodiments of the present invention.